Operation Incline: Week 2 recap

Ok... the focus has changed. My recently completed base phase was all about climbing, both on the bike and run. Now it's time get fast in prep the Xterra USA Championships in Incline Village, NV (hence the change in "operations"). This was second week of my first build phase and I can honestly say it's probably that hardest, most focused week I have put in all year and I had some of the best workouts I've had in a quite some time. Ramping up the intensity the past two weeks has left me pretty beat down. Luckily this week is a recovery week... and I need it.

Here's how the end of week broke down.

Thursday.

I hit masters in the morning for a pretty tough session and swam ok. Definitely not my best day in pool, but with all the other hard training going on I am not to worried. In the afternoon I had a run on tap with some challenging intervals and I nailed it! Last week I went into this run with a case of the DOMS and ran ok. I was looking forward to hitting this work out all week. I went in feeling really good as I really paid a lot of attention to my nutrition and hydration throughout the day. I won't go into the specifics of the run but it's probably the best "hard" run I have had all year. I felt like I was flying and pace solid!

run workout playlist: All Slipknot including their new album which is pretty damn good.

Friday.

After the hard work on Thursday the plan was to take it pretty easy. I got in a mellow spin on the road before work and then hit moonlight beach right after for some open water swimming. I made sure to keep the intensity down so I would be recovered for Saturdays big workout.

workout playlist: Lucero and Iron & Wine

Saturday.

pre-workout breakkie: sprouted english muffin w/ almond butter & agave nectar and coffee in my favorite mug.


One of the toughest workouts of the year. I headed up to the San Juan River Trail to meet up with Luke first thing in the morning. Luke's racing the Tahoe Sierra 100 (gnarly!) next weekend so he was looking to dial it up a bit and definitely get some climbing in. The San Juan Trail is probably some of the best riding in the area and it was my first time heading up there. I had some specific intervals I wanted to get in including a 20 min climbing TT. Luke lead me out on the climb and when it was time to Go... he went for it. We spent 20 minutes hammering up the climbing passing a lot of riders... it was a full-on race pace effort and it was awesome. Luke got a gap on me but I bridged back to his wheel at about the 15 minute mark until we hit a technical switchback. He nailed and I blew it. He got another gap and I spent the rest of the interval trying to chase him down and almost did. I was stoked about the effort.

after quite a bit of climbing.


After that we still had plenty of climbing left to do and then it was time to descend. The descent was killer, fast, and technical. I ended up taking a good spill but came a way pretty clean.... just a couple of bruises.

view from the top.


After I got back down to the parking lot it was time to run. It was hot and there weren't very many options of where to run... there was going to be a lot of climbing no matter which way I headed. The first mile was brutal. 9 minutes and 500+ ft of climbing. I didn't get much easier from there but I ended the run knowing I had really pushed myself and was very satisfied.

workout playlist: a big mix - slipknot, metallica, the cool kids, shwayze, ignite, cinematic sunrise, thrice, rise against, and more

Driving home I could barely stay awake. I was shelled, dehydrated, and needed a nap. I was pretty out of it for the rest of the day, just ask Beth. I made sure to eat and drink a lot to get ready for Sunday's run.

the ride:

the run:


Sunday.

Ranch Run. This one of the more popular group runs in the area and there are plenty of fast folks out there, many of which are getting ready for Kona. I won't name drop but you will be seeing them on the Kona TV coverage for sure! I warmed up for a bit before the run and met up with Beth. She started early to get in all of her miles and then was going to join the group for the 11.5 mile loop.

I headed out with lead pack and we kind of went for it. This the kind of run I need. I talked with GZ earlier in the week about beer, running, and the benefit of running with other runners. I am kind of a sandbagger when it comes to my long runs and this kind of run snaps me out of that. I run felt great and shockingly comfortable. I never felt like I was going all out even though the pace was high and most of our mile splits were between 6:00-6:20. I ended the run covered in sweat. I can't wait to get back out there.

I think that's about it for last week. Looking back I am pretty satisfied with where I am at but also really ready to push it in the coming weeks. I have changed things up quite a bit in my training and I will get to that in my next post... this one is already too long.

No workouts today! I am just chillaxing, drinking coffee, and watching sportscenter.